thought I loved him. Despite that, I knew that I couldnât put my plans on hold so I accepted the job at Pontins. Darren said that he needed to make some big changes too, so he decided to go travelling in Australia for six months. I hoped having some time apart might help me to forgive him.
CHAPTER 4
PUT ON YOUR RED SHOES
I started working at Pontins in late 1997 and it was a whole new world to me. It was the first time I’d properly lived away from home and I had my very own room. It was only tiny but it had a bathroom and a little desk and it really did feel like a mini home for the time I was there. Even now the smell of Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner takes me right back there in an instant because I always used to use it in the shower. All of the memories it brings up are good ones because I had the time of my life.
The other bluecoats and I lived side by side in a long line of chalets next to each other and there was always something going on. There were a lot of people going in and out of those rooms, if you get my drift. Even though it would have been so easy for me to pull guys, I was completely faithful to Darren. The guests loved the Bluecoats and a lot of themwere very flirty, so there was plenty of opportunity to cheat, but it’s not in my nature.
All of the other Bluecoats were copping off with people left, right and centre and I’ll never forget one of the guys saying to me, ‘Never pull anyone on the first night because there’s a new intake of people every Friday and someone better may be among them.’ That kind of sums up what it was like. Some of the other staff members even had star charts. The blokes were much worse than the women and I was so wide-eyed and innocent about it all.
Six weeks after I arrived there I got an airmail letter from Darren that was basically a Dear John. It was one of those letters that looks like an envelope but was actually a piece of paper that folded out, and some of the other Bluecoats thought it was really glamorous that I’d got a letter from the other side of the world. Darren wittered on about how great Australia was and then basically said he’d met someone and didn’t want to be with me anymore. I was so annoyed! We’d been together for two years by then and he dumped me by letter. He couldn’t even be brave enough to phone me. And I’d wasted all of those months being faithful when I could have been having a whale of a time!
I was sad that we’d split up but I was still holding on to some anger over his cheating, so there was definitely a little bit of relief involved, too. I wasn’t sure I would ever properly get over his infidelity, so the fact he’d dumped me meant there was no going back. I was a bit embarrassed abouthaving to tell the other Bluecoats I’d been dumped, but they were soon joking about me having my own star chart.
Needless to say, now I was single I did what every other 19-year-old girl does when she’s away from home for the first time and surrounded by lads – I flirted my way through each and every day. I didn’t sleep around but I became a massive party animal (minus the alcohol). While everyone was drinking wine and beer I’d have Slush Puppies instead, which meant that while they’d wake up in the morning feeling like death, I’d be as fresh as a daisy. Everyone else would be swaying around moaning about having to host a table tennis competition and I’d be skipping around feeling great. I used to swap shifts with people all the time because they felt too rough to do certain things. Looking back, I should have been paid a fortune in overtime!
I loved wearing my Pontins uniform – which usually consisted of shorts and a T-shirt or a tracksuit – and being able to perform all day. We could dance around being silly for hours on end and no one cared. It was all about entertaining the punters. I wasn’t really the bingo-calling type or the one who would hang out with the old ladies. Whenever I did do bingo
CHAPTER 4
PUT ON YOUR RED SHOES
I started working at Pontins in late 1997 and it was a whole new world to me. It was the first time I’d properly lived away from home and I had my very own room. It was only tiny but it had a bathroom and a little desk and it really did feel like a mini home for the time I was there. Even now the smell of Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner takes me right back there in an instant because I always used to use it in the shower. All of the memories it brings up are good ones because I had the time of my life.
The other bluecoats and I lived side by side in a long line of chalets next to each other and there was always something going on. There were a lot of people going in and out of those rooms, if you get my drift. Even though it would have been so easy for me to pull guys, I was completely faithful to Darren. The guests loved the Bluecoats and a lot of themwere very flirty, so there was plenty of opportunity to cheat, but it’s not in my nature.
All of the other Bluecoats were copping off with people left, right and centre and I’ll never forget one of the guys saying to me, ‘Never pull anyone on the first night because there’s a new intake of people every Friday and someone better may be among them.’ That kind of sums up what it was like. Some of the other staff members even had star charts. The blokes were much worse than the women and I was so wide-eyed and innocent about it all.
Six weeks after I arrived there I got an airmail letter from Darren that was basically a Dear John. It was one of those letters that looks like an envelope but was actually a piece of paper that folded out, and some of the other Bluecoats thought it was really glamorous that I’d got a letter from the other side of the world. Darren wittered on about how great Australia was and then basically said he’d met someone and didn’t want to be with me anymore. I was so annoyed! We’d been together for two years by then and he dumped me by letter. He couldn’t even be brave enough to phone me. And I’d wasted all of those months being faithful when I could have been having a whale of a time!
I was sad that we’d split up but I was still holding on to some anger over his cheating, so there was definitely a little bit of relief involved, too. I wasn’t sure I would ever properly get over his infidelity, so the fact he’d dumped me meant there was no going back. I was a bit embarrassed abouthaving to tell the other Bluecoats I’d been dumped, but they were soon joking about me having my own star chart.
Needless to say, now I was single I did what every other 19-year-old girl does when she’s away from home for the first time and surrounded by lads – I flirted my way through each and every day. I didn’t sleep around but I became a massive party animal (minus the alcohol). While everyone was drinking wine and beer I’d have Slush Puppies instead, which meant that while they’d wake up in the morning feeling like death, I’d be as fresh as a daisy. Everyone else would be swaying around moaning about having to host a table tennis competition and I’d be skipping around feeling great. I used to swap shifts with people all the time because they felt too rough to do certain things. Looking back, I should have been paid a fortune in overtime!
I loved wearing my Pontins uniform – which usually consisted of shorts and a T-shirt or a tracksuit – and being able to perform all day. We could dance around being silly for hours on end and no one cared. It was all about entertaining the punters. I wasn’t really the bingo-calling type or the one who would hang out with the old ladies. Whenever I did do bingo
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